A Dozen Red Roses
by nuttybrunette
Summary: After a disasterous 7th year , Lily and James start their new lives...but seperately . Meet them a year later along with the marauders and..POTTER ? who's this other Potter engaged to Lily ? its not James !
1. Goodbye isnt forever

GOODBYE ISNT FOREVER

" Now dear , you can see him for 5 minutes but try not to disturb him " whispered Madame Pomfrey in a concerned tone since Lily looked like she was about to burst in tears as soon as she was left alone . Lily could just nod , glad that she was finally alone with James , without the Marauders or any of his female fans pretending to be concerned for James . She took a seat next to his bed and just stared at him in silence for a few minutes . _He looks like an innocent child when he's sleeping and not thinking about new strategies to prank the Slytherins _she thought with a bittersweet smile . She got up and went to stand near the window as if she couldn't bear to see James lying in the hospital wing , unconscious . Laughter from the grounds brought her out of her thoughts . Now that the exams were over , students were enjoying their time with each other before they went home for the holidays . Even she would be outside along with James , her boyfriend , enjoying their last day in Hogwarts before they went out in the real world , had it not been for an unfortunate event . She closed her eyes thinking about the all the occurances in the past week .

**Flashback**

" James ? " a whisper that was bearly audible reached James Potter which broke him from the blond who was practically clinging on him . The empty classroom with only its three occupants was filled with an awkward silence only broken by Lily's deep breaths trying to calm himself . " Li-Lily? " James managed to stutter whereas Lily was still too shocked to speak out . " I will see you later James darling " Pamela said with a sexy voice which only made Lily more angry and James more nervous . The moment she left the classroom James took a step towards Lily " Lily …. I can explain … " but was interrupted by the bang of the door through which Lily had left the classroom .

Lily ran as fast as she could , knowing that James was not so far behind her .

As soon as she reached the common room , James caught hold of her hand and held on firmly since she was struggling to get her hand free .

" Lily , I can explain …. " " EXPLAIN ? Whats there to explain ? I saw you kissing Pamela and it looked like you would have continued if I hadn't interrupted . " screamed Lily causing everyone in the common room to turn towards them and watch in silence .

" Pl..Please try to understand , Lily " stuttered James " Understand ? There's nothing to understand James . Its very simple . You cheated on me . AGAIN! And with the same person . Last time you said that Pamela started it and you got carried away . But I don't think your so skinny that anyone can just jump over you and start kissing you while you cant even push the person away . " by now everyone in the common room was staring at them but the seemed completely oblivious .

Before James could even open his mouth , Lily shoved his hand which was still holding her arm and said "Don't you ever come near me again Potter or else I till hex you till next week " even though it was said in a whisper just for James to hear , it echoed through the silent common room , allowing everyone present there to be able to hear it . Lily stormed off to the girls dorm having said what she wanted but leaving behind a desperate James and astounded Griffindors .

**End flashback **

That was the last time she saw James and now , here she was , with James lying in the hospital wing ._ This was not exactly how I planned to pass my last day in Hogwarts _, Lily thought sadly . She wanted to pass her last days in Hogwarts with James , talking with him , playing pranks on her friends and the Marauders , but it seemed as if destiny was not on her side . Now everyone in the whole school thought that Lily had hexed James because he cheated on her . Even the marauders and her friends didn't trust her . This only convinced her that she didn't need friends who would trust everyone else but her .

She took a deep breath and stopped the tears , which were there with her since James ended up in the hospital wing , from streaming down . She regained her compusure and went near James bed to finish what she came

for . She kept the letter on James side table and gave a last kiss on his forehead . "Goodbye James " she whispered with trembling leps and left the hospital wing , her last hope being that she would never have to see a Potter again .


	2. Awake FINALLY!

Everything seemed so blurred that he could barely make out figures in the room.He started groping for his specs on the bedside table.As soon as he put them on he could see a cleared version of a white room with beds arranged on two rows.

"Alas!mr potter I see u have finally decided to wake up".

The voice came from a tall man with long white shiny beard , he wore a robe of royal blue which seemed to go with his eyes which were framed with specs shapped as the half-moon.He had a kind and wise face which was now wearing a a small smile.

"Hello professor dumbledore" James was happy to see a familar face atleast he could ask him why he was in the hospital wing and feeling like he was stamped,stabbed and punched at the same time . He felt sore at every inch of his body. But before he could utter another word , Madame Promfrey came bustling from her office bringing with her a whole tray of 10 or more potions of different colours. He could bet his life that most of these potions were harder to swallow than even Hagrids cakes and tasted worse than the food Sirius had cooked in the summer, that was saying something since he had spent most of that memorable summer day in the bathroom.

"Now Mr Potter you must have these potions."at the indignant look on his face, she merely grumbled something about teenagers being terrible patients and all the while pouring a green sluggish potion into a cup. Without warning she held his head and poured the potion in his mouth. For an instant he thought he was going to throw up right in front of Madame Promfrey and Dumbledore. As soon as that thought entered his head, his tummy seemed to settle down and felt warmer. After seeing that he took all the potions, she went back into her office taking with her the tray of disgusting potions. All the while Dumbledore had been looking at the scene in front of him a patient and amusing smile.

"Now I am sure you have dying to ask me some questions"said Dumbledore with his usual air of wisdom.

"Er..well i really wanna know how many days have I been here and how come its so quite here now. And where are Sirius and Remus and the others? I would have thought they would be the first people I saw as soon as I woke up." he was really wondering why his friends were taking so long to visit him.

"Well your friends had insisted to be here when you wake and Mr Black had even considered jumping off the window so that he could land himself a bed near yours in the hospital wing. But it was Mr Lupin who suggested they wait for you to wake up and asked me to send them an owl as soon as you do. I have already sent them an owl, I expect them to come barging in here in an hour or probably even before that".

That definitely sounded like an idea which only an idiotic person like Sirius could think of and Remus was always the one to contradict him with his sensible ideas. But...wait. "Do you mean that I missed my NEWTS ? The whole school is empty ? Everyone is gone?" James blurted out all these at once. He was getting panicky now.

Dumbledore chuckled "No Mr Potter the school is not empty. The professors are still there so your not all alone. But all the students have gone home for the summer holidays. And yes, you have missed the NEWTS. But now that your fine and well you can give your NEWTS during the following week." this made James relax a little.

"If you have asked everything you wanted to know about would you mind if I ask a few questions of my own?" Dumbledore had become a bit serious now and since James ws satisfied with the answers he didnt object to any enquiry. He nodded his response.

" Mr Potter, could you please tell me everything that you can remember before you were unconcsious?" he was looking at James with a very thoughtful look and was waiting for the answer very patiently.

"Well...I remember going in the greenhouse that night and was leaving when someone hit me with a stunning spell from behind. I couldnt attack back since i was stunned and the attacker didnt stop at that, he just continued hitting me with more spells. I dont even know which spells he used on me. I think he used nonverbal spells " he didnt meet Dumbledore's eye when he said about being on the school ground after curfew. But Dumbledore didnt seem to be thinking about something else.

"How can you be sure that your attacker was a he, Mr Potter?" now that was very tricky question and James was pretty reluctant to answer that very question.

"Er...well the attacker was saying some things in between all the spells so I could hear his voice even though it was a bit muffled." now that seemed to interest Dumbledore.

"Do you remember what he was saying?" Damn! He really didnt want to answer that question.

"I think he was mumbling something about me treating Lily like dirt and that she deinitely deserved someone better." James said it almost in a whisper. He thought that the attacker was right and he felt like a low-life sucker. That night he was feeling very guilty for cheating on Lily and had gone to collect some flowers for her from the greenhouse. Just as he had collected the flowers and was about to leave, he was attacked and that was the last that he could remember.

"While you were in the hospital wing word had spread that Lily had attacked you." Dumbledore deposited that information very calmly. -----"WHAT? THATS INSANE!!!Em..I mean I am positive that Lily was definitely not the attacker. Why should she attack me anyways? Lily would never deliberately attack anyone, unless she had to defend herself. She wouldnt attack just for the sake of fun or revenge and never from behind. If she wanted to attack me she would definitely do it on my face. This is ridiculous! I bet noone even believed this. Everyone must have got a huge laugh out of that."

Dumbledore had moved near the window sill during his outburst and seemed to have a very sombre look on his face. When he turned towards James he looked very troubled "James...you should know that Lily's last few days in Hogwarts was very unbearable. Everyone in school believed that she was the one who attacked you and noone ever gave her the chance to prove her innocence. All her friends ignored her and your friends were very rude with her too. I think she was glad to finally leave Hogwarts the day before. But then she recieved grave news from her home. Her parents had passed away in a car accident and her only living family is her sister Petunia. I believe Lily has already told you abou her sister." If Dumbledore had meant to render James speechless then he sure had succeeded. He couldnt think of anything to say but then Dumbledore didnt expect him to say anything since he started talking again.

"At the last day of Hogwarts Lily came to meet me so that she was allowed to meet you. Mr Black was always there by your side and didnt even want to consider to let Lily see you, even though you were unconscious. I suppose she wanted to say goodbye to you. I sent Mr Black and your other friends for an errand and let Lily see you, even if for a short while." Man!! James was feeling even more guilty than he had felt that night. It was all because of him that Lily was friendless and she was the victim of Sirius's rude attitude.Damn! She did not deserve this. He had to apologise even if there was no chance of being forgiven, he had to try.

"Do you think I could leave the hospital wing for sometime so I could meet Lily, Professor ?" the only response he got for this was a sigh from Dmbledore.

"James firstly you are in no condition to leave this ward and Madame Promfrey would probably scream at me during my whole living life about letting a student leave without he say-so. And most inportant of which is...I do not know where Lily lives now."----" Oh dont worry about that because I know her house..."---"No James. Lily and her sister Petunia have left London and I dont know where either of them are at this precise moment."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. That meant he could never meet his Lily flower again, could never hold her in his arms, could never see her eyes sparkle with anger, mischief or laughter. His Lily had left him! James could feel tears stinging behind his eyes. He couldnt catch Dumbledore's eye in case his professor saw the tears. But Dumbledore had understood his situation.

"You need to rest now so I will leave you and if you need me for anything then please dont hesitate." with that Dumbledore left the hospital wing, leaving James all alone without his Lily.


	3. The Letter

He still couldnt believe his Lily had left him.He was still lost in his thoughts when Madame Pomfrey returned and started fussing over him.It was later when he was preparing for a nap, that he found _it_.

His bedside table was filled with assortment of candies such as Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron cakes and many others from his friends and fans. But it was the _red rose_among all these, which caught James attention.There was a letter under the rose and as soon as he saw the handwriting, his heartbeat quickened. It was Lily's. His Lily!

He impatiently tore off the envelope and started to read it :

James,

I hope you are recovering well enough.I felt really odd while writing this letter.I had imagined my last in

hogwarts to be spent with you and my friends peacefully.But instead here we are.You in the hospital while I am leaving London with my sister.But I think this is for the best.

I realized that we never were made for each other.You can never settle wit just one girl while I cant be happy compromising with that. I suppose it would have to brake off with you face-to-face (not that this feels better), but it feels less painful this way.

You know i thought at first when I caught you kissing someone else, I was really angry but now that I have had time to think, its good that I saw you, now atleast I am free of a relationship which was only hurting me more.I was always just an obsession for you, you never really did care.

But anyways I hope that one day you _do _find true love in your life. A word of advice though, dont cheat on her too, she might not give you another chance ever again.

P.S - I charmed the rose so that it will be fresh for a long time.

Lily.

James read the letter over and over again till he had memorised the whole thing. He was really shocked because he had thought he still had a chance with her but her letter proved otherwise.

He was starting to feel drowsy by then. He remembered that Madame Pomfrey had given him a sleeping potion. So he removed his glasses,put them on the table and went to sleep with the _red rose_ held tightly to his heart.


End file.
